Difference between revisions of "Designer"

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(added link to newest Designer zip from Mantis)
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<p>Designer is the program that is used to create a user interface for the [[Orbiter]].  Designer has not yet been re-written for LinuxMCE .  While functional, it is not terribly user friendly, and it only runs on Windows. The User's Manual explains how to use it.  Eventually an entirely new cross-platform Designer will be written.  However, since it is still usable, this has been considered a lower priority.</p>
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==Designer==
<p>Designer is very poorly written, and we do not recommend any developer puts much effort into this code. It needs be completely re-written from scratch. What makes matters worse is that it was originally written using our own .NET data access classes, similar to our [[sql2cpp]]. However these classes only worked with MS SQL Server as a back-end.  For Version 2, we are using the open source MySql database.  The data access classes were crudely hacked to work with MySql's ODBC connector and are not easily maintainable.</p>
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<p>Since re-writing Designer is a pretty big task and the current version is somehow usable, we have considered this a lower priority.  The database schema is not likely to change much when the new Designer is written, so any user interfaces developed now should be usable with the new Designer. There is no Programmer's Guide for this version of Designer.</p>
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Designer is the program that is used to create a User Interface for the [[Orbiter]].  Designer has not yet been re-written in LinuxMCE.  While functional, it is not terribly user friendly, and it only runs on Windows. Eventually an entirely new cross-platform Designer ought to be written.  However, since it is still usable, this has been considered a lower priority by us.
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Designer is very poorly written, and we do not recommend that any developer put much effort into writing new code for it. It needs be completely re-written from scratch.
 +
 
 +
To makes matters worse, it was originally written using our own .NET data access classes, similar to our [[sql2cpp]]. These classes only worked with the MS SQL Server back-end and were crudely hacked to work with MySql's ODBC connector.  They are not easily maintained.
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For Version 2, we plan to use the open source MySql database. 
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 +
Re-writing Designer is a pretty big task and the current version remains usable for the most part, so we have considered re-writing it a lower priority.  The database scheme is not likely to change much when the new Designer is written. Any user interfaces developed with the current version ought to be usable with the new Designer version, therefore.
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The [[Designer User's manual|User's Manual]] explains how to use it.
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There is no Programmer's Guide for this version of Designer.
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===Download Designer [[http://mantis.linuxmce.org/file_download.php?file_id=97&type=bug HERE]]===
 
===Download Designer [[http://mantis.linuxmce.org/file_download.php?file_id=97&type=bug HERE]]===
*[[Windows| Running on Windows Machine]]
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*[[Windows| Running Designer on a Windows Machine]]
 
*[[Designer User's manual]]
 
*[[Designer User's manual]]
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[[Category: Programmer's Guide]]
 
[[Category: Programmer's Guide]]
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[[Category: Tutorials]]

Revision as of 21:13, 22 May 2008

Designer

Designer is the program that is used to create a User Interface for the Orbiter. Designer has not yet been re-written in LinuxMCE. While functional, it is not terribly user friendly, and it only runs on Windows. Eventually an entirely new cross-platform Designer ought to be written. However, since it is still usable, this has been considered a lower priority by us.

Designer is very poorly written, and we do not recommend that any developer put much effort into writing new code for it. It needs be completely re-written from scratch.

To makes matters worse, it was originally written using our own .NET data access classes, similar to our sql2cpp. These classes only worked with the MS SQL Server back-end and were crudely hacked to work with MySql's ODBC connector. They are not easily maintained.

For Version 2, we plan to use the open source MySql database.

Re-writing Designer is a pretty big task and the current version remains usable for the most part, so we have considered re-writing it a lower priority. The database scheme is not likely to change much when the new Designer is written. Any user interfaces developed with the current version ought to be usable with the new Designer version, therefore.

The User's Manual explains how to use it. There is no Programmer's Guide for this version of Designer.

Download Designer [HERE]